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At the center of my being lives a puppeteer. I've known this since I was six years old, putting on endless puppet shows for my ever tolerant family. I tried to suppress this creative energy when I entered young adulthood, trading in my puppets for a good ol' college try at, well, college. Not one, but TWO masters degrees -- and a mountain of debt -- a decade later, I am still the same person now as I was when I was six -- a puppeteer. (I'm just an older, more formally educated, and deeper in debt puppeteer.) As the Chinese proverb goes, "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now." Even though I neglected to plant my tree twenty years ago, at least I am learning from my TWENTY YEAR "mistake" and am planting it now.

Specifically, I am planting my tree at libraries, schools, and birthday parties - for all ages. (Don't limit yourself to thinking puppets are just for kids!) At libraries and schools, I perform a puppet story hour (actually, a half hour) using puppets who read selected children's stories. While I have been performing for ages 0-7, I am happy to tailor the selections for any age group. I also perform original stories, which focus on themes of courage, speaking up, perserverence, friendship, and bullying.

In this day and age of the Battle of the Electronics and the Struggle Against Screen Time, I feel so fortunate to be able to interact with children "face to face" (as opposed to "FaceBook to FaceBook.") I am honored to be part of the spark that ignites their imaginations as they begin to discover who they are at the center of their being.